52 Things

My Resolution this year is to do 52 New Things. One thing a week, that I haven't done before. I hope this helps with my primary goal of improving my health as some of these will be physical activities or challenges to my social anxiety. The "new things" can be a completely new category (i.e. I've never done acupuncture) or just new places: a city I've never stayed in before or restaurant I've never eaten at or a trail I've never hiked. Just anything I haven't done before.

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#50 of 52: Suwanee Creek Greenway in Suwannee, Georgia. A regular feature on my 52 New Things trek has been Greenways and Riverwalks around the area. I’ve enjoyed the greenways because they are usually easy to navigate and show the personality of the city where the walk is located. The Suwannee walk is a nice paved and shaded walk covering about 4.5 Miles. There is also a disc golf course along the trail and a short non-paved path down to the creek. As with most greenways, this is a nice place for a walk or run, but without any spectacular views.

[52-new-things]

#50 of 52: Suwanee Creek Greenway in Suwannee, Georgia. A regular feature on my 52 New Things trek has been Greenways and Riverwalks around the area. I’ve enjoyed the greenways because they are usually easy to navigate and show the personality of the city where the walk is located. The Suwannee walk is a nice paved and shaded walk covering about 4.5 Miles. There is also a disc golf course along the trail and a short non-paved path down to the creek. As with most greenways, this is a nice place for a walk or run, but without any spectacular views.

[52-new-things]

#50 of 52: Suwanee Creek Greenway in Suwannee, Georgia. A regular feature on my 52 New Things trek has been Greenways and Riverwalks around the area. I’ve enjoyed the greenways because they are usually easy to navigate and show the personality of the city where the walk is located. The Suwannee walk is a nice paved and shaded walk covering about 4.5 Miles. There is also a disc golf course along the trail and a short non-paved path down to the creek. As with most greenways, this is a nice place for a walk or run, but without any spectacular views.

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#49 of 53: Part II: As part of my 11.2 Mile birthday walk, after the BeltLine ended, I walked over to the Atlanta Street Car and then walked around Centennial Park. Top: Water feature at Centennial Park. Statue of Bill Pemberton at World Of Coca Cola. Plaque for the US gold medalists in women’s football. Atlanta Streetcar branded with Atlanta United

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#49 of 52: Atlanta BeltLine. When I planned my #52newthings, one-fourth were to be a new trail or walk. I have loved exploring the local riverwalks/creekwalks who all seem to reflect the personality of the city they wind through. Atlanta’s BeltLine is no different. Top left is a view of the BeltLine walking under a road. A tiny door found on the BeltLine. An old part of the original rail belt line. A mile marker in front of the old Ford factory. Two displays along the path adding interest and a change in scenery: a plastic rainbow and a photography display.

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#48 of 52: Pandora at Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom and Epcot are my favorite theme parks, so I’ve been to Animal Kingdom before. Pandora, the fictional planet in the movie Avatar, is an addition to the Park, so this was my first time ever in Pandora.

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#47 of 52: Bahamas: Part II. Atlantis. I didn’t stay at Atlantis. I didn’t even have a day pass at the water park, but just the entrance fountain and garden was an amazingly picturesque setting.

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#47 of 52: First time in the Caribbean. I visited Freeport and Nassau in the Bahamas. It’s a beautiful country. The top picture is a red cannon at Fort Fincastle in Nassau. A gigantic. Rooster. Historic sign in Freeport. A beech in Nassau. A Bahamian harvesting a conch for a popular meal, Conch salad. National flower 🇧🇸 Yellow Elder. Taino Beach Resort in Freeport. Watchtower at Fort Fincastle in Nassau. Yellow tower in the port at Nassau. John Watling’s rum distillery.

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#46 of 52: Went on my first cruise. I prefer less structured, impromptu traveling, so I had never been on a cruise but I’ve always wanted to see what it’s all about. Here are some of my favorite parts of my cruise. 1. Each day ship stewards, ours was Mel, left behind a towel animal. Day one was an elephant. 2. A view of the ship with Señor frog in Freeport. 3. There was a lot of entertainment on board. I saw shows and comedians. One of my favorite times was at the piano bar. The pianist had laryngitis and invited people to grab the mic and sing. This guy was on his honeymoon and sang a song for his wife. It was an impromptu, fun night of a piano singer/ karaoke hybrid. 4. Coming into and going out of port was always interesting and great for picture taking. I loved seeing shore life from the ship, like this building on a barrier island in the Bahamas. 5. White wine sangria with my mom at dinner. The sit down dinners were great for getting everyone together and I was pleased with the variety and tasty items on the menu. 6. The absolute Best part was this violin 🎻 trio in the lobby right outside our door. Their strong version of recent pop songs and rock classics was the soundtrack of my week. 7. I loved being bird 🦅 level.

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#45 of 52: Cumberland River Greenway, Nashville. I’ve been to Nashville many times before for Titans, Predators, US Soccer and College Football, but I’ve not spent time walking away from the State buildings or Broadway. 
I was in town for a meeting and decided to take a pre-drive walk. I went toward the bridges and found a river walk. There were great views, the remains of an old fort and it’s very close to downtown. It’s worth a walk if you see in the Music City.

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#44 of 52: Ft. Oglethorpe greenway at Gilbert-Stephenson Park. I simple walkway, but a nice place for a walk near a park, pool and picnic areas.

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#43 of 52: Pine Mountain Trail, West. I wanted to find a quick walk on the way to Atlanta to get some exercise in. This trail is 0.2 miles off of I-75 near Cartersville, Georgia so it was very convenient for a quick hike while on the road. The walk also provides good exercise as you wind your way up Pine Mountain

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#42 of 52: Sope Creek Trail. Cobb County, Georgia. A good trail should have a payoff and this walk delivers with the Sope Creek paper Mill. The Mill was built in 1855 and destroyed during the Civil War. There is also a hidden lake along this easy 1.5 mile loop. (Photos with me in then taken by H Wolfe.

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#41 of 52: Cleveland/ Bradley County Greenway. I've walked quite a few greenways on my 52 new things tour. I'm glad so many communities have them now and I've found the trails take on the personality of the city they wind through. I got out early and found a duck 🦆 family sharing the path. I also enjoyed the family friendly parks along the way including the giant yellow chair at the Greenway Park. I walked the entire length of the Greenway (and back) on this day.

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#40 of 52: Sesquicentennial State Park in Columbia, South Carolina. I was traveling from the Atlantic Coast to Tennessee and I found a walk along I-20 to break up a long drive. This park was close to the interstate and admission was reasonably priced. The first part of my hike was a run-of-the-mill southern forest hike with the occasional raised walk. Then the visual interest picked up as you get around to a lake. I found canoeing and other part-type activities. This is a nice venue to have near you. While this isn't worth a long trip, it's worth a stop if you want a more active rest stop.

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#39 of 52: Surfside Beach to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I've been to this part of South Carolina before, so Myrtle Beach isn't a new place. I've included this as my 39th new thing as this is my first walk between two cities. This day was hot.. I mean hot. It was so hot that after a few miles I found one of the ubiquitous surf / souvenir shops and found the cheapest wide rimmed hat they had. I found the straw hat you can see in the picture. Function over form. A woman pulled over her car to offer a ride saying "I knew someone wearing a hat like that isn't dangerous". I didn't accept the ride and kept walking: through sand and sidewalks and store parking lots until I made my destination. I enjoyed this walk. I don't know if this is the kind of thing to give a recommendation or not, but I can recommend going on long walks to new places and can recommend that cities work to make walking between some of these local businesses safer for tourists and local pedestrians.

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#38 of 52: Toccoa Falls at Toccoa Falls College, Georgia. A tall waterfall easily accessible on the College campus. As the pictures show, this is a quiet and beautiful location. On November 6, 1977, a dam in the lake above failed sending 40 acres of lake over this waterfall killing 39 people and injuring many more. That day has always been memorable to me as I was a middle school kid living in middle Georgia in 1977. I have never seen Toccoa before (except the train station) and going here was important to me as I worked on completing my 52 new things.